Polio Campaign Under Attack, Current Situation in Pakistan

Pakistan’s polio crisis is worsening day by day and it has been intensified by attacks of militants on polio workers, large-scale IDPs (Internally displaced persons) and the political upheavel which is going on now in the country.

Obviously all these things have left a deep impact on the smooth running capacity of the state. The total number of new polio cases this year has hit 260, this is four times many as at the same point last year, making fun of of promises by the government to halt the galloping progress of the disease.Even though the domestic vaccination drives and large international aid have put huge numbers of anti-polio workers in the field, Pakistan’s anti-government militant groups are continuously striking at the polio workers.They think that polio workers are the agents of West in the execution of sinister plans in the garb of polio vaccination.

The women are being attacked more because they have an easy access to the private households in conservative areas of Baluchistan and KPK and this factor has raised their high demand and put them at risk.According to militant groups Polio vaccinations are dangerous to health and against Islam as vaccinationis being used to sterilize Muslim childern.

But on the other hand many Muslim countries are supporting polio vaccine campaign in Pakistan and giving huge amounts of donations to keep the campaign alive. Now the attacks on polio workers are not just due to hatered against immunization campaign, now this is being used to harras and weeken the government also.

As the refugee families reached refugee camps and then often went beyond, Polio infection rates did soar, and the virus spread to new areas, including the country’s largest city, Karachi. The number of infected districts by polio increased to 22 this year, from 10 before, and approximately three quarters of the new cases came from the tribal area of North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Khyber Now the Pakistan which had already been facing the allegations of incubator of terrorists in the tribal areas is now facing another charge of harboring the polio disease. New regulations introduced this year require air travelers from Pakistan of all ages to submit a certificate proving that they have been vaccinated for polio. One newspaper has called the epidemic Pakistan’s “badge of shame.”

Aghanistan and Nigeria are the other two countries having polio cases at analarming level. Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has said that immunization against faal diseases is a fundamental right of every child in Pakistan and they will be extended all help at a maximum level.

PM, Nawaz Sharif has hoped that the situation will be much better in next 6 months with the help of local and international stake holders and government machinery. According to Dr. Durry of the W.H.O the health workers have delivered 450 million doses of vaccine. Mr. Memon, of Rotary International has shown his resolutionto extend vaccine to maximum help. “The children of this country should walk, not crawl. We promised to end this, and we will.”